Published by the Queen's Printer for British Columbia in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the Law Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. BC Laws has been upgraded to provide enhanced searching and more content including historical legislation and related publications such as BC Gazette, full text Orders-in-Council, and Tables of Legislative Changes.

Lexis Advance Quicklaw provides an intuitive single-search interface with expanded delivery options to more than 2,300 databases of law and related information from Canada, the United States, and other countries. This collection includes caselaw, statutes, regulations, bills, and other materials including texts (e.g. Irwin Law titles), articles, newsletters, and press releases. Visit the Lexis Advance Quicklaw User Guide or Overview (YouTube) for information on this new interface.

Quickscribe includes full text access to all BC Statutes and Regulations as well as a growing list of key federal legislation including the Criminal Code of Canada, Divorce Act and Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to name a few. Users may also access Orders in Councils, Bills, repealed laws, point-in-time archived legislation and other "related" industry- specific documents. Offers delivery of RSS feeds to provide you with instant notification of new amendments to relevant legislation in your research area. Legislation found on Quickscribe Online is updated daily. For information on how to use this database, visit Quickscribes 2.0 Training Webinar posted online.

ProView is the way to read Thomson Reuters e-books, published primarily for the legal, accounting, human resources, and tax professions.
Online access is provided to the following titles, licensed by JIBC:
• Admissibility of Statements
• Breathalyzer Law in Canada: The Prosecution and Defence of Drinking and Driving Offences
• Canadian Criminal Code Offences
• Canadian Criminal Procedure
• Canadian Emergency Management and Response Manual: A Guide to the Law and Practice
• Criminal Code Driving Offences: A Companion Text for Breathalyzer Law In Canada
• DNA: A Practical Guide
• Electronic Evidence in Canada
• The Law of Fraud and Related Offences
• Search and Seizure Law in Canada
• Visual Evidence
• Weapons Offences Manual
• Wiretapping and Other Electronic Surveillance: Law and Procedure

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Legislation Basics

Legislation includes laws, also referred to as acts or statutes, that are passed by either the federal parliament or a provincial legislative, and regulations, sometimes called secondary or delegated legislation. Regulations are made under the authority of a 'parent' act, and there may be several sets of regulations under one act.

Some Definitions

Legislation = Written and approved laws. Also known as statutes, or acts.

Bill = A proposed statute, not yet approved.

Act = A bill which has passed through the various legislative steps required for it and which has become law. Also known as a statute.

Statutes = Statutes are laws that are passed by the legislature - federal or provincial/territorial.

Regulations = Rules made pursuant to a statute and known as subordinate legislation. Regulations always have an enabling statute; that is, a statute under which the regulations were made and operate.

What are Regulations?

Certain statutes enable federal or provincial executive agencies to create rules and regulations to govern various areas. These rules and regulations, together with other subordinate legislation, such as orders and municipal by-laws, may be referred to as regulations or statutory instruments.

Public or Private?

Laws or statutes (and bills) are considered "public" if the law is a law that applies to everyone, i.e. the Criminal Code.

Laws can also be "private", meaning they apply to a specific person, place, or corporation, i.e. in some provinces, a hospital or a university may have its own piece of legislation.

Generally, legislation passed in a year is published in a statute volume, with the acts being numbered sequentially 1,2,3 as chapters. The public statutes are typically first, and any private statute is later in the volume.